Hello, Miss Melancholy
by Inu Sensei
Summary: All she's ever needed were the simple things. Anything else could have been tossed aside and she wouldn't care. Someone could be crying out for help and she would walk on by. What went on in their lives never mattered and she never cared. It was a waste of time to worry about other people who weren't her... until that mysterious neighbor forces her to. NegiToro.
1. Prologue

I feel slooooowww. Everyone from my old team has posted at least one story of their own and me... nothing. Well, maybe because I moved from one side of the US to the other... such a long trip...

Anyway, hopefully this piques your interest! I really love jazz music, and it inspired me to write after months! To the friend that also inspired this... please don't kill me.

_**Disclaimer: **_I will NEVER own Vocaloid.

* * *

Hello, Ms. Melancholy.

_Prologue_

She was never one to worry about what other people were doing with their lives. If they were secret agents at night or Clark Kent in the day, it never mattered and she never cared. Megurine Luka was a woman who lived a never-ending life; one that moved at the speed of a ticking clock.

One moment she was sitting at her desk, reading the latest news on her laptop with a cup of coffee in one hand, the next moment she was lazily watching an age-old sitcom like it was the most boring show in existence and complaining about it despite cracking a few smiles. She was a hypocrite at best and loved it. Her life was especially sound and calm.

Unfortunately, her neighbor always happened to be standing outside her porch, simply looking down at all the little ants that were cars and the monstrous skyscrapers staring at them in the face. Hatsune Miku was an odd one; exceptionally quiet with a soft, motherly smile on her face all the time even though she had dark rings surrounding her eyes. Her clothes were baggy, and she always wore a dress with some poncho over it, long teal hair taken care of very well dangling inches over the ground.

So when Luka went outside her apartment for a small smoke break, she would catch Miku standing there, as if she was waiting for someone or something. Her eyes would simply glue themselves onto the streets below their apartment balconies until she was satisfied.

"Hey," Luka called out to her, puffing out a wisp of smoke in the opposite direction to avoid making Miku feel awkward. Teal eyes looked up to her with a small smile, and Miku nodded back, as if she was too deep in thought to really care about what she was saying – not that Luka herself cared much. Her business was her business, after all.

The silence was calming, a little jazz music seeping from Luka's living room speakers. Adding in a cigarette for good measure and she was having the time of her life. If only she could have a wine glass sitting in her hand, but those were too far to bother with.

Miku soon turned around and Luka nodded at her when the teal-haired woman nodded as a parting, sliding her glass doors open before disappearing. Sucking in the last of her cigarette, Luka took her time letting the smoke seep from her lips, watching the little circles dance before they also disappeared.

Sitting up, she stretched, looking down from the height of one thousand houses up, glasses nearly falling off her face and into the abyss below if it wasn't for her stepping back a little. Luka sighed and entered her living room, dumping the squashed cigarette into her ash tray. "I need to clean that..." she mumbled in annoyance.

The other neighbor she wasn't very insightful about was Kagamine Rin. She was similar to Miku, where she would simply smile, with this odd look on her face all the time, except she actually talked to people and actually went outside of her apartment. She would meet her every day, if only for a few minutes when she went to get her mail.

"Hi Luka," she greeted with a small smile, shorter than the pinkette by only a foot. Which wasn't saying anything as Luka was taller than most women her age. Not that her height actually mattered or reflected her personality any.

Nodding, Luka greeted back with a simple, "Hey."

"Len's going to come home this weekend," Rin mumbled, once again about to gush about how her brother was such an awesome guy for being in the military. Luka almost felt herself roll her eyes, but adjusted her glasses instead. "I wonder if he'll bring the girl he's been talking about..."

"Well you never know..." Luka trailed off in mock interest, not exactly caring about the conversation. It stretched until Rin got her mail and ended when she was too preoccupied with reading the letter from her brother. Luka wondered if her actions would possibly hint about feelings for the boy, which was something she didn't find appealing or interesting in the slightest.

Walking back to the elevator Rin had just run into, Luka leafed through the envelopes she had in hand, majority of it junk mail and coupons for some pizza restaurant she frequented herself on some weekends.

Hearing Rin whisper heatedly about Len returning made her feel uncomfortable – she didn't need to know about the blonde's excitement, and didn't care that she was so excited as it wasn't Luka's life thus she had no need to learn about anything involving Rin. All she needed was her laptop, a cigarette and a really great cup of wine filled to the brim.

The definition of a calm and sound life.

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A/N:

I know it's super short, but that is what a prologue is, right? Right. I also like melancholic Luka more than the usual dark/edgy/emo or the sexy/perfect Luka. She's very... neutral, and very ambiguous.

So, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll try to write chapter 2 ASAP. The chapters might stay this length throughout, simply because I feel shorter chapters make it a lot harder to analyze and interpret and actually make you curious about what's going on rather than outright stating it.


	2. I

Thanks for reading and liking it guys! I hope to live up to your expectations!

I hate that Fanfiction removed the periods from the title. It makes it look so _u__n_pro. Gah.

_**Disclaimer:**_ I will NEVER own Vocaloid.

* * *

Hello, Ms. Melancholy.

_I_

Luka walked out of her apartment with a long stride, the awful stench of burning wood seeping through with the air as she closed the door. Nobody was out and about in the hallways, which she found absolutely great, saving her the questions about the smell.

Having been careless with her smoking in the house, Luka was looking over the newspaper with said cigarette hanging from her mouth. When she went to flip the page, it fell out, burned a huge hole in the paper and ended up burning a large portion of her table. Luckily no smoke alarms went off; she was able to handle it herself.

She left her glass doors open, having no worries about robbers – she had nothing of value inside anyway – while she went out for a walk, hoping it would get rid of the smell.

The sound of a door closing sounded, and someone waited alongside her as she stood in front of the elevator, the glossy matte of the silver doors reflecting the teal-haired Miku standing there, a small smile on her face.

"Hey," they said at the same time once they realized they were watching each others reflection. Luka wondered what Miku was actually doing outside of her apartment, but then bit her lip at the realization that she must have needed something ordinary, like groceries.

Instead of ignoring her, Luka decided to start a conversation for once, allowing her to enter the elevator first. "So, where are you headed?" she asked, her voice dulled to the dullest she could get it. Miku flinched and shrugged, her usual smile on her face. Inside, Luka couldn't see her face as the walls weren't reflecting, instead glancing down at her petite form. "Well, I'm gonna head to the Starbucks down the street... work on some of my writing I guess." She almost bit her tongue for moving; it was such an inconvenience for her.

Miku's eyes averted to the side, a frown framing her face for once – at least to Luka's knowledge. It slightly fit her usual melancholic aura. "So that's what you do," she mumbled, her voice barely a step above inaudible.

After that Luka decided to quit talking. Whatever was bothering Miku, or whatever sort of introvert she was, was none of Luka's business. She was absolutely mysterious, but that didn't mean Luka had to dive in and try to know why. Nodding, she watched as Miku slowly got off on the fifth floor, her posture perfectly straight, as if she was being prodded with some stick.

Shaking her head, Luka closed her eyes and simply watched the numbers slowly drop until she reached the bottom floor. She recognized some people, others looked new, and she simply went on her way, not bothering with them. They all had things to do, after all.

The streets were overpopulated with clothing ads, brightly lit neon lights that served no purpose but to blind those who were interested, and too many uptight adults that cared more about their job than they did their families. A typical city, if you will.

Her heels clicked against the dark sidewalks, lights blaring into her lenses and effectively blinding her. She hated walking in the middle of town, especially during the busiest hours. That was when everyone wouldn't stop talking, phones were going off, and the trendiest places were filled to the point people fought outside to prove who was the better customer.

Luka ignored most of them and shoved her way through her "usual" Starbucks, nodding at the polite employee who greeted her when she walked in. Annoying pop music boasting about the singer's latest look on sex was showering down on her, more than once making her regret forgetting her headphones.

Ordering a coffee didn't come until nearly 46 minutes (she hadn't counted) later, two paragraphs struggling to stay on her screen any longer. The employee kept trying to make her buy something extra, but she saw no need in spending more on something she didn't want.

It took another hour and a progressive five extra words before Luka found herself walking out of the coffee shop, ignoring the people staring at her rough exit. As the night progressed, only morons and people with alcohol for blood would be walking around, and as it stood Luka wanted nothing to do with them – watching them during their hours of misery was, in her book, supporting their hobbies.

Of course, the same could be said about her own hobbies. At heart she was the worst and best hypocrite.

Opening up her apartment door, she sighed in content at the fresh smell of the outdoors having overpowered the tobacco scent. A chilly air licked at her skin, making her shiver, but instead of closing her doors, Luka grabbed her pack of cigarettes and headed outside. Arms dangling over her railing and glasses put away, she stared at all the taxis and ads and horrifying amounts of people down below.

"Can't believe I spent nearly two hours down there," she scolded herself, eyes drifting back up to Miku's balcony, surprised she wasn't out to watch the evening scenery. But as a human she had things to do, and Luka basked in the freedom of being able to blow her smoke freely into the air.

Soon enough, she heard Miku walk out with her TV running in the background, curtains flapping and revealing a small bit of what was inside her apartment. "Hello," she quietly greeted, her voice nearly shadowed by the sound of the night breeze.

There was an odd melancholic tone in her voice that Luka found, for once, interesting.

"Hello," she replied curtly, taking in every detail that was Hatsune Miku.

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A/N:

I tried to keep this under one thousand words, and I somehow succeeded. Any who, I hoped you enjoyed this somewhat lacking chapter. But hey, progress isn't something that happens with a blink of an eye.


	3. II

Thanks for reading and reviewing guys! Sorry for the delay. T.T

_**Disclaimer: **_I will NEVER own Vocaloid.

* * *

Hello, Ms. Melancholy

_II_

Luka winced at the audacity of the man shoving his holy book in her face, yelling at her about being such an impure being. She didn't believe in some magical fairy and didn't need someone to shove that in her face as if she was wrong – or had an opinion that wasn't theirs. That was something she hated about the city she lived in; everyone got mad and offended over the dumbest and childish things.

"Repent!" he yelled, waving his used paperback book in the air, "Repent and He will forgive all of your sins! Homosexuality! Adultery! Anything you wish, he will forgive!"

The pink-haired woman blew her smoke to his face, hoping it would shut him up without her doing anything, but at the last second a bicyclist whooshed by them, the smoke tagging along with him. "Of course," she drawled, flicking some ash onto the concrete below her.

She usually was writing or lounging around her apartment on Saturday mornings, but an urgent call from her editor forced her to wake up early and walk down to the deli underneath his apartment complex. Luka had no idea why she was even bothering, as she could've been doing something important – like writing.

"Luka! So sorry to keep you waiting!" the shivering voice of Shion Kaito rang, his deep voice easily distinguishable among the chatty crowd. His thin-rimmed glasses were nearly falling off his nose, hair shaggy, and his sweater vest was clinging tightly to his white dress shirt, the red tie puffing out. And in his arms was most likely a bunch of paperwork; Luka suddenly wondered which one of the two was the author.

Dropping her cigarette onto the ground and crushing it with her heel, she carefully watched him as he slid into his seat with ease, dropping the papers with a bright grin on his face. "How are you doing?" he asked shyly, his fingers playing with each other.

"Tell me I haven't been cut from the contract with my publisher," she bluntly stated, pushing her own glasses up. The glint of the lens made him visibly shiver. "Kaito."

Kaito shook his head, smoothing out the wood table as if it held some sort of blueprint. "Not... entirely... well, _not all of them_ would be more appropriate," he said with a nervous chuckle, opening up his collar to cool down his reddening skin. Luka's intimidating glare was nearly cutting him open for the truth, and he sighed. "Yes. They say you've been too... slack with deadlines. It's been nearly two months since your last submission to at least five, Luka."

Spinning her pen in hand, Luka clicked her tongue against her teeth, scooting her chair back. She wasn't mad, as she was aware of her lack of interest to actually write – her writer's block didn't help any either. "I see. Well, send them to my place. I'll sign everything," she said, gulping down the rest of her coffee before leaving a stuttering blue-haired man in her wake.

It truly wasn't worth the trouble to get angry over something as petty as company values.

"Oh... hello," Miku slowly greeted, stepping back the moment Luka approached her door, seeming to have been waiting for her to open it from inside. Her eyes were shyly looking up at her, a stack of paper in her arms. From the angle she stood, Luka could see the heavy purple-black mix of skin underneath Miku's eyes, contrasting with her milky white complexion.

Sighing and shoving the thought away, Luka led her into her overly organized apartment where a quick drop of papers onto her coffee table took place before Miku quickly fled, Luka blankly staring at the space left by her open door. "Thanks," she mumbled, closing it with her foot.

When she sat on her couch, the pile of papers obscuring her view of the TV, Luka reached for one, staring at the big, stretched out words nobody cared to read, and skipped to the bottom where she had to sign. As an author, she had seen too many of these papers to care what their contents were.

So with every stroke of her pen that she made, Luka knew it was a slow descend to the end of her minor career. Not like she couldn't go to some other publisher, but it was such a hassle she contemplated not doing it. It was annoying running back and forth, providing paperwork, identification, and all sorts of boring things she didn't care for.

All she wanted to do was write.

"And writing I shall do," she whispered, her left index finger idly spinning over the rim of her wine glass; it was empty, yet her lipstick stains certainly made it look full.

The droning sound of the TV soon annoyed her, signed documents littering her floor, mimicking a thin blanket of snow. Winter wouldn't come for months, but it was the favorite season for the typical author for generic reasons: coffee. No writer could live without coffee to keep them going, to keep them awake during those annoying, teeth clenching deadlines soaring up from the hills of procrastination.

Of course, she always had some herself yet preferred her wine. The blood-red color of it reminded her of the thick mystery that was her neighbor. Hatsune Miku. The word secret was written all over that name.

"I wonder what she's doing..." Luka wondered, shutting the TV off and sauntering over to her balcony where the breeze always hit just right. Reaching for her pocket, Luka _tsk'ed_ when she realized her pack of cigarettes was sitting somewhere within her homemade wonderland.

But then, she saw Miku. Dressed in a loose sea-foam green dress and a white sweater, eyes gazing up into the stars. Luka's darker teal eyes sharpened with interest, and she sighed loudly to gain the other woman's attention.

"Hey there," she greeted first, the smile on her face as unnatural as the rail she was touching.

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A/N:_**  
**_

"Where's da plot going, Inu?!" You know... I can't tell you. But I do hope you stay tuned to find out!


	4. III

Thanks a bunch, guys! I'm sorry about that mini delay, but here's yet another chapter!

If anyone wants to know the song I listen to while writing this just to get the complete mood, it's: _Fragrance of Dark Coffee_ by Turnabout Jazz Soul...

… and everything else on their album.

To the reviewer Connie: Wine can be inexpensive, but it can also be ridiculously pricy.

_**Disclaimer: Well... I'm writing **_Fan**_fiction. What does this say?_**

* * *

Hello, Ms. Melancholy.

_III_

When she opened her window, or rather the curtains, her eyes decided to shut their own curtains, settling in the darkness they had been comfortable in for the previous ten hours. Luka sighed against the cold glass, not having expected awful weather when she was going to the publisher's office to drop off her papers from being laid off.

It was cloudy, the perfect weather any writer loved for no reason. Dark grey clouds loomed and slid over the city in a rapid manner, almost as if wanting to get away from it as fast as they could. Luka felt the same way, already biting her cheek from the sight of the polluted place she lived in. Being this high up, she got a first-class view of everything, down to the people doing maintenance on even the tallest skyscraper.

It wasn't as beautiful as everyone thought – everyone who didn't live here, anyway.

Luka decided to call Kaito to pick up her papers; just the thought of going outside in awful weather made her feet ache. When she got no answer, she rolled her eyes and decided to leave the papers on the table for later, when the clouds decided to leave once and for all.

At that thought, and with the sound of light drops of rain hitting her doors, Luka raised her eyebrow when she saw a bright pink color next door, flapping around and slapping her side of the balcony.

She hovered over to the doors and sighed at the sight of her soggy ash tray more so than the sight of Miku sitting under a bright pink roof, reading a book. "What the hell is happening here..." she mumbled to herself, throwing on a coat and hood before walking outside.

It wasn't cold – or wouldn't have been cold, if the wind hadn't decided to pick up the moment she set foot onto her balcony. Hands in her black jacket's pockets, Luka leaned over her railing, watching all the people in the streets run around with newspapers and umbrellas, trying to escape the bitter weather. Most of the coffee shops would be jam packed with people, so Luka didn't dare think of even going.

"Hello," Miku casually greeted, her voice soft and nearly inaudible compared to the wind. She was wearing a thick white dress and fluffy blue slipper boots, a red wool blanket covering her from the neck to her thighs. She wore a tired smile, but it was a smile and Luka could only nod back at the sight of it.

"What's up?" she asked, not really needing to know. Miku looked like she was comfortable and simply wanted to enjoy the day without getting sprinkled with freezing drops of water, so Luka ignored the question that previously lingered in her mind. Pulling out a cigarette after checking to make sure to wind was blowing opposite of where Miku sat, Luka relaxed, pulling her chair to sit; almost feeling like she was sitting directly next to Miku.

But the closest she got was the sound of a page turning. Glancing to the side, Luka was left to wonder about Miku – why she was so reserved and dressed extremely modestly. Unlike Rin, who was a chatterbox full of obvious answers nobody cared about, Miku was a woman that didn't let other people in.

"Nice weather, huh?" she blankly stated, not even sounding like she wanted to create conversation. Miku nodded at her, and went back to reading her book, bags under her eyes becoming even darker, as if her pale skin turned pure black.

Luka hated herself for observing so much, but Miku was one mysterious person. She was like a really great novel Luka had on her shelf, ready to be read and explored, but was never touched or even bothered with, Luka not having enough motivation to even reach for it.

So she figured there was a reason and let it be. She couldn't interfere with or change fate, so she decided to ultimately leave that novel alone.

"I like this book," Miku randomly said after a long pregnant silence. Luka was nearly done with her new pack of cigarettes, the smell of it completely stuck to her body. No matter what anyone said, she loved the smell of her clothes after she smoked. It was such a relaxing scent.

Luka stared at her book, trying to find the title and author, but they were both pressed against Miku's thighs, the pages of text facing upwards.

"It's your novel," the teal-haired woman continued, finally lifting it up to show Luka a familiar picture. It wasn't one of her best, but enough people loved it enough for it to get a hardcover – the one Miku had in her hands. "It's very interesting..."

"Thanks," Luka replied, turning her head to blow out some smoke before throwing the nub into the ashtray. She had enough rain for the day; anymore and she'd definitely get sick. "You should head inside. Don't catch a cold," was all she said to Miku before heading inside, the warm air lifting her body the moment it touched her skin.

Looking at the clock, she had no idea she spent three hours outside.

Dumping her body in bed, Luka sighed and decided to sleep for the rest of the day. Kaito never answered back nor did he come over, so she left the papers on her table, not wanting to face those pretentious pricks that worked for publishing companies.

"Tomorrow," she yawned, not believing herself for one second.

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A/N:

Yaay! Another chapter, up! I've been busy reading a lot of new fics that are being popped out. Especially the NegiToro ones. Keep them coming guys, and I'll try to update a lot more from now on as well!


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